Senate bombshell: Cory Gardner says "I can't support personhood now"

Source: Denver Post

Congressman Cory Gardner, who has been hammered for his position on social issues ever since he jumped into the U.S. Senate race, dropped a political bombshell Friday with his revelation that he was wrong to have supported previous personhood efforts.

He said after learning more about the measures, which would have had the impact of outlawing abortion, that he realized the proposals also could ban certain forms of contraception, a prohibition he does not support.

"This was a bad idea driven by good intentions," he told The Denver Post. "I was not right. I can't support personhood now. I can't support personhood going forward. To do it again would be a mistake."

...Udall's campaign spokesman, Chris Harris, pointed out that Gardner the last two years co-sponsored the Life Begins at Conception Act, which defines a human being as "a member of the species homo sapiens" at the moment of fertilization. He said it was basically a federal version of the personhood amendment, a position with which Gardner's campaign disagrees.

"Coloradans will see through this cheap election-year stunt," Harris said. "Gardner is showing a profound lack of respect for Colorado voters. Coloradans want a senator who always promotes and protects women's health, not one who simply pretends to during election years."

Cory Gardner claims that he started rethinking his support for the Personhood abortion ban "after voters rejected it by 3-to1 margin in 2010." As reported by Lynn Bartels, that appears very hard to believe, in light of the fact that Gardner signed on as a co-sponsor on July 23rd of last year to H.R. 1091: the federal Life at Conception Act. Like Colorado's Personhood abortion bans, this bill would extend "the right to life" to "every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization."

This is just another item confirming what should be glaringly obvious at this point: Gardner's Personhood problems are going to get worse, not better. His explanation for this wholesale flip-flop is plainly belied by facts like the 2013 legislation above–which makes Gardner look like a craven "say anything" politician with no personal values at all. If there's anything worse than dogmatically clinging to an unpopular position, it's being trusted by no one.

It is not hyperbole to suggest that this may be the decisive event in 2014 U.S. Senate race.

5. K&R..thanks, angka

6. so fertalized eggs ....

....that fail to implant due to contraception use aren't "real" people now? If you want to go down that primrose path of biological idiocy, you've gotta stick with it, buddy, even when it's inconvenient. Otherwise, you just piss off damn near everyone.

17. yep, misunderstanding me.....

....sorry for the lack of clarity. My point is, it's biological stupidity to grant a fertilized egg the same rights as you and me. However, by not sticking with his original stance, Gardner is pissing off the forced pregnancy ass hats, while pro choice folks easily see through his gross hypocrisy.

21. he has sponsored anti-choice and personhood amendments. think his views on women are

22. yep. That's pretty clear.

yecch!

Didn't see anything about it in the wikipedia article.

edit to add---I don't know what's really going on in his head. It sounds plausible that he looked into the ramifications of personhood laws and realized it went too far. I just don't know--only his actions will tell the truth.

23. would love to believe you are correct, but wayyyy too familiar with this smiling bastard.

sadly, he is only slightly less nuts than the previous "front-runner" one ken buck.

. . .

But the left noted that Gardner sponsored legislation in both the Colorado legislature and in Congress to outlaw abortion, and in 2010 he circulated petitions in Colorado for the "personhood" amendment that critics contend would have outlawed some forms of birth control.

27. you are not missing anything-- here is a short review of doug "tar baby" lamborn:

. . . .

Taxes

Lamborn is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

"Tar Baby" Remark

On July 29, 2011, Lamborn appeared on a Denver radio program to discuss the debt crisis and the failure of Democrats and Republicans to reach a compromise on the problem. Lamborn stated "Now, I don't even want to have to be associated with . It's like touching a tar baby and you get it, you're stuck, and you're a part of the problem now and you can't get away." The term tar baby is a known racial slur used towards African-Americans. Former Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll, himself an African-American, replied "“Looking beyond the fact that Congressman Lamborn’s entire comment is nonsensical, his use of the term ‘tar baby’ is unfortunate because the historical connotation of that term when used in conjunction with African Americans."

On August 1, 2011, Lamborn apologized for his use of the slur, explaining ""When I said 'tar baby', I was talking economic quagmire that our country is finding ourselves in because of poor economic policy from the White House. I could have used a better term."

Refusal to attend 2012 State of the Union Address

On January 23, 2012, Lamborn announced he would not be attending the President's State of the Union address. According to his spokeswoman Catherine Mortenson, "Congressman Lamborn is doing this to send a clear message that he does not support the policies of Barack Obama, that they have hurt our country," and he believed Obama was “in full campaign mode and will use the address as an opportunity to bash his political opponents."

Leak of classified national security information

On April 11, 2013, Lamborn read out in an open session broadcast on C-SPAN what he thought to be an unclassified section from a classified report on North Korean nuclear capabilities. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs refused to confirm the classified report.

Role in 2013 government shutdown

Doug Lamborn is one of the 80 members of the House that signed a letter to the speaker of the house, urging the threat of a government shutdown to defund Obamacare. This group was named the "Suicide Caucus". He voted against the measure that finally ended the shutdown on October 16, 2013

12. because they don't read and think abstractly? I don't know, just tossing ideas out there….

they don't think of real world consequences of their ideologies. But then, sometimes, the consequences of stupidity get tangible enough to see, and then….. there's a chance another bit of evolution happens.